Controller for radiator-valves.



P. A. SIMONDS.

CONTROLLER FOR RADIATOR VALVES.

APPLIGATION HLBD 191411.24, 190e.

910,092. l Patented .1911.19 1909.

mms-SHEET 1.

ix "i Y am" F. A. SIMONDS.

CONTROLLER FOR RADIATOR VALVES.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 24, 190s.

910,092. Y l Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A l B WMM/www UNITED sTATEs PATENT orrici..

FRANK ARTHUR SIMONDS, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO SIMONDS HEATING AND SPECIALTY COMPANY, OF FREMONT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.-

CONTROLLER Fon nanm'ronfvaLvEs.

To all whom 'it may elmcem:

f Be it lknown that I, F RANK ARTHUR SIMoNDs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Controllers for Radiator-Valves; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apperta'ins to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in controllers for radiator valves,.and its object is to'provide improved means for automatically opening and closing said' valve whenever there is a change of temperature 1n the apartment heated by the radiator to which the valve may be attached, to provide a device adapted to displace' a part of an ordinary globe valve, and co-act with the case thereof; and to provide the device with various new and useful features, hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, and it consists essentially of a piston attached to the movable member of the valve and moving in a cylinder adapted to displace the gland of a globe valve and connected at its respective ends to a vacuum line, and provided with means to alternately open and close the respective passages between the ends of the cylinder and said line; and means for admitting outer air to the end of the cylinder that is thus cut oil from the vacuum line, said valves preferably being operated by a double solenoid,

I m'turn operated by an electric circuit shifted from one coil to the other by a thermostat located in the apartment heated by the'- radiator, as will more fully. appear by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1. is. a side elevation of a device embodying my invention; Fig. 2. a horizontal section of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.; Fig. 3. a vertical section of the same on the line 3 3 of Figs. 1 and 2; F

4. a vertical section of the same at right angles to Fig. 3 and on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.; and Fig. 5. a reduced side elevation showing my device attached to a radiator.

Like numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 represents a cylinder for the operating piston 8, and 2 a similar cylinder in line Specification of Letters Patent. Applicationled March 24, 1996. Serial No. 307,902.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

therewith for the'balancing piston 7. These cylinders are screw threaded` at the lower end to ft in place of the gland of aglobe valve, and connected by an axial opening 3 thro`u h which openingl extends a rod 5 ,connecte at its lower end to the valve 4 to be operated. In this rod -is a passage 6 con-V necting the inlet side of the valve with the upper part of the lower cylinder'2, in whlch cylinder is a balancing piston 7 tixedon the rod 5, by which arrangement the piston 7 balances the valve 4 by equalizing the pressure below the valve and above the piston. The valve is thus readily lifted from its seat or closed as occasion requires bythe tached to the upper end of the rod 5 and 1 l moves in the cylinder 1.' This piston 8 is operated by the outer air entering. at one side, the vacuum at the other side of the piston leaving the air pressureunbalanced. To connect the cylinder 1 with the vacuum line of the system, a passage 9 extends from the lower endiof the cylinder to a chamber 10 in the cylinder head and a passage 11 through the cylinder head connects the up er end of the cylinder and a chamber 12 m said head. Between these chambers 10 and 12 is a chamber'13, which latter is connected to the vacuum line 33 by means of a pipe 17. This vacuum line is exhausted by any convenient means, and is preferably connected to the discharge side of the radiators, as shown in Fig. 5, and with a steam trap 32 interposed therebetween, but a separate vacuum line may 'bei provided, if preferred.

Between the chamber -13 and the respective chambers 10 and 12 are openings alternately closed by opposing valves 14 and 15 mounted on al longitudinally movable rod 16 slidable in openin in the axes of the plugs 18 and 19 in t e outer ends of the chambers 10 and 12. l.'Ilhese valves are fixed A rod operates 30 -valves when a the rod 16, which when so opened permit access of outer air at one side of the piston,

Y the pressure of which moves the piston in The reduced end 16b of the to close or open the opening in the plug 18 and the reduced portion 16a Loperating the same respecting the opening the cylinder.

A in the plug 19.

To operate the rod 16, I prefer to use an electrical thermostat adapted to shift the current of a battery 40 or other. electric circuit in the usual way, the circuit 35 being connected to the solenoid coil 23 and the contact 38, and the circuit 36 to the similar coil 24 and the contact 38a, in which coils is a solenoid core 22 moved longitudinally by said coils when excited by the current. To this core is connected a rod 21 on which are collars25 and 26 spaced apart and alternately 20 engaging an arm 20 fixed on the end of the core operates as a hammer, and thus insures quick and certain movement of these circuit is closed. When the core has moved and shifted the valves, it is desirable to break the circuit to save the battery. For this purpose I provide on the rod 16 near its outer end two insulators 27 spaced apart by a conductor 28. The circuit 36 for the coil 24 is connected to insulated electrodes 29, which alternately engage the inner insulator 27 and the conductor 28, being shifted from one to' the other as the rod 16 40 moves. The circuit 35 for the coil 23 is con- J nected to similar insulated electrodes 30, which alternately engage the conductor 28 and the outer insulator 27 as the rod 16 is shifted. By this arrangement, whenever the circuit 36 is closed by the thermostat, the

parts -beingin position as shown in Fig. 2, the coil 24 will be excited .and moving the core 22 within its sleeve will shift the rod 16 in the same direction and thus move the electrodes 29 off the conductor 28 upon the inner insulator 27 and break the circuit. At the same time the opposing circuit 25 will be closed by the contact of the electrodes 30 with the conductor 28. If now by a change of temperature, the movable electrode 37 of the thermostat should shift to the circuit 35, the reverse movement of the core shifts the valves and opens that circuit. At each vshift of the valves 14 and 15 as thus described, the vacuum line would be alternately connected with the respective ends of the cylinder 1 and the opposite end of the cylinder opened to the `outer air and thus the -valve 4 would be alternately opened and closed to regulate the flow of steam or Water to the radiator to maintain constant temperature in the apartment containingthe thermostat.

` What 1 claim is: v

1. The combination with a heating system including a valve -device having an extending `valve stem, of a cylinder, a piston operating in the cylinder and connected to said valve stem, a' casing having transverse partitions spaced apartand with alined apertures having valve seats and forming a plurality of chambers with the chambers com municating respectively with the cylinder at opposite sides of the piston and with air vents leading therefrom, a pipe between the intermediate chamber and the vacuumy linex of said system, a rod extending through said casing' and its partitions and intersecting said air vents and adapted to close the same when disposed in one position, valves carried by said rods and adapted to be alternately seated upon the seats of said apertures, a thermostat, and an electrical means between said thermostat and rod whereby the movements of said rod is controlled by the operation of said thermostat by the inluence of change in the temperature.

2. The combination-with a heating system including a valve device having an extended valve stem, a cylinder, a piston operating in the cylinder and connected to said yvalve stem, a casing having transverse partitionsspaced apart and with alined apertures having valve seats and provided with a plurality of chambers with the end chamber connecting with the cylinder at opposite sides of said piston and 'with air vents leading therefrom, a pipe between the intermediate chamber and the vacuum line of said system, a rod extending through said casing and its partitions and intersecting said air vents and adapted to close the same when disposed in one position, valves carried by said rod and adapted to be alternately seated upon the seats of said apertures, a thermostat, a solenoid having two independent coils and connected respectively to the opposite poles of said thermostat, and meansl whereby the operation of the core of said solenoid actuates saidrod.

3. The combination with a heating system including a valve having anv extended valve stem, a cylinder, a piston operating in the cylinder and connected to said valve stem, a casing having transverse partitions spaced apart and with alined apertures having valve seats and providing a plurality ofV chambers with the end chambers communieating with the cylinder at opposite sides of said piston and with air vents leading therefrom, a pipe between the intermediate chamber and the vacuum line of said system, a rod extending through said casing and its partitions and-intersecting said air vents and adapted to close the same lwhen disposed in I adapted to alternately seat upon the seats of i said apertures, a thermostat, a solenoid having two independent coils connected respectively to the opposite poles of said thermostat, and with stops spaced apart a greater distance than the stroke of said valved rod, and an arm extending from said rod into the paths of said stops, whereby said rod is forcibly actuated' by the movement of said core.

. 4. The combination with a heating system including a valve device having an extended valve stem, a cylinder, a piston operating in the cylinder and connected to sa1d valve stem, a casing having transverse partitions spaced apart'and with alined apertures having valve seats and providing a plurality of chambers with the end chambers connecting with the cylinder at opposite sides of said,y

piston and with air vents leading therefrom, a pipe between the intermediate chamber and the vacuiim line of said system, a rod extending through saidk casing and its partitions and intersecting said air vent and adapted to close the same when disposed in one position, valves carried by said rod and adapted to be alternately seatedupon the seats of said apertures, a thermostat, a solenoid having two independent coils and connected respectively to the opposite poles of said thermostat, means whereby the operation of the core of said solenoid actuates said rod, and a circuit breaker arranged in the circuit ofsaid thermostat.

The combina-tion with a heating system including a valve having an extended valve stem, a cylinder, a piston operating in the cylinder and connected to said valve stem, said valve stem having a passage connecting the inlet side of the valve with the upper part of said cylinder, a second cylinder, afpiston in the second cylinder and connected to said Valve stem, a casing having transverse partitions spaced apart and lwith alining apertures having valve seats and providing a plurality of chambers with t-he end chamber communicating with the second mentioned cylinder at opposite sides of the second mentioned piston and with air vents leading therefrom, a pipe between the intermediate chamber and the vacuum line of the system, a rod extending through said casing and its partitions and intersecting said air vents and adapted to close the same when disposed in one-position, valves carried by said rod and adapted to alternately seat upon the seats of said apertures, a thermostat, a solenoid having two independent coils connected respectively to the opposite poles of said thermostat, said solenoid including a Acore and stops, said stops spaced apart a greater distance than the stroke of said valve rod, and an arm extending from said rod into the path of said stops, whereby said rod is forcibly actuated by the movement of said core.

6. The combination with a heating system including a valv'e and an' extended valve stem, a cylinder, a piston .operating in the cylinder and connected to said valve stem, a casing having afplurality of communicating chambers,l the communication between the chambers being arranged in alinement and having` valve seats, a pipe between one of the chambers andthe vacuum line of the system, a rod inf-said casing extending through the communications of the chambers of the casing, valves carried by said rod 'and adapted to alternately seat upon the seats of said communication between the chambers, atherinostana solenoid hav-` said partitions having alining apertures forme to provide valve seats, one of said chambers of the casing communicating with the cylinder at opposite sides of said piston and having airvents leading therefrom, a connection between one of the chambers and the vacuum line of said system, a rod extending through the casing andits partitions and intersecting said air vents and adapted to close the same when disposed in one position, valves carried by said rod and adapted to alternately seat upon said valve seats, a thermostat, a solenoid having two independent coils connected respectively to the opposite poles of said thermostat, said solenoid including a core and a pair of spaced stops,- and an arm extending from sa1d rod into the path of said stops, whereby lsaid rod 'is forcibly actuated by the movement of said core.

8. T he combination Witha heating system including a valve having a stem, a cylinder, a piston operating in the cylinder and connected to said valve stem, a casing having a series of communicating chambers, the communicating passages between the chambers being formed to provide valve seats, the end chambers communicating with the cylinder at opposite sides of said piston, the cylinder having air vents leading therefrom, a rod extending through said casing and its partitions and intersecting said air vents to close the same when the rod is disposed inadapted Vto alternately seat upon said valveV seats, a thermostat, a solenoid having two coils connected` respectively to opposite poles 0f said thermostat, Va single core common to both of said coils, and means whereby the alternate movements of said core undeinthe influence vof saidr coils actuates the controlling valve.

'9. The combination with a heating system including a valve having a valve stem, a

, cylinder, a piston operating in the cylinder and connected to said valve stem, a casing having a series of communicating chambers, the communications between the chambers being formedto provide valve seats, a pipe between` one of the chambers and the vacuum line of the system, a rod extending through said casing,- valves carried by said rod and adapted to alternately seat upon said valve seats, a thermostat', a solenoid includinga core, and means between the solenoid and said rod whereby thealternate movements of the core of the solenoid under the influence of said coils actuates the con-v trolling valve, and a circuit breaker a1'- ranged in the circuit of said thermostat.

In testimony whereof l aflixvmy signature 

